It may have been.
I was on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food for at least two years, and the former minister of agriculture and agri-food promised us the moon. For months he talked about a framework agreement, or a policy framework. It was going to be wonderful and change the world of agriculture. Just this morning, someone mentioned we never had anything like this before in Canada.
In Quebec, we have had something even better for a long time. It is not for nothing that Quebec farmers did not want to sign this agreement. They signed it with a knife to their throats. It does not make sense because our agriculture was better protected before this agreement.
It is terrible to see how much we are losing to a government that protects its friends first, no matter where they come from. We have seen the sponsorship scandal. We can take the administration scandal in general as an example. I swear, with the money that gets wasted in this government, it would be possible, if it were logical and offered not just words but real actions to go with the words, something more than just hot air, the farmers in Quebec or anywhere in Canada would not have the problems they are having now.
My colleague from Drummond said that, especially in her riding—because most of the dairy industry, some 47% of Quebec's production, is concentrated in her riding—there are some farmers in a very sorry state right now.
I have already used the example in this House of a visit I had from a farmer who said he had been a millionaire. “At the age of 59, I was ready to retire. I could have sold and with what I had on my farm I could have paid for my retirement”, he told me. Then he told me, “But now I am not worth anything anymore. My retirement has gone out the window because of the mismanagement of this government”.
At age 59, this farmer will have to keep working to earn a living because he has nothing left. In another region of Quebec, farmers are committing suicide.
This is no joking matter. It is a big deal to individuals. When we talk about industry, it seems like we are talking about machines. But when we talk about the farming industry, 90% of it involves labour and humans. Some people are losing everything, and the government has nothing but words, words, words for them.
It will provide something in the next budget, on the eve of the election. We have seen that before and we will be seeing it again. The government is getting ready. It will announce $1 billion for farmers. However, it will not have time to spend the money because it will be out on the campaign trail. Personally, I hope it never comes back.
People say this government mismanages things. My colleague, the member for Jonquière, asked a question about a highway that was promised but never built. I remember having heard, in this House, the Prime Minister say that he was taking the time to establish good relations with the province so that the money is well spent. If there is one government not qualified to show anyone how to spend money well, it is the Liberal government. This is quite incredible.
To give members an idea, under the current Prime Minister, when he was finance minister, operating costs increased by 39% in five years. This is an average of 9.6% a year, while inflation was 1.9%. Where did the rest go?
The number of federal officials increased by 46,000 in five years. That is a 21% increase. For the same period, the payroll increased by 7.3%, to 41%. In comparison with the government of any province, we can see that not one province is as mismanaged as this government.
Expenditures for legal services have increased by 129%, and, this is quite extraordinary, expenditures for opinion polls have increased by 334%. It started in 1994 before the referendum. They wanted to know how to stop Quebec from moving forward. I already heard the Prime Minister say in the House that they were not using polls to govern. What would it be like if they had to use polls to govern. So, there is a 334% increase, or 66.8% annually, for opinion polls.
Where is this money coming from? It is being taken from those who need it. I am not talking about the sponsorship scandal; we have talked about that enough. My colleague from Drummond talked about what we could have done with the $250 million that was stolen. There is constant talk about helping those who feed this country, who feed Quebec, about those who are building this country, the farmers, but there is never enough time. Hot air is all they are offered, while they work in the fields and suffer as a result of this government's mismanagement.
In passing, I can say that there is another important element. We are suffering from our lack of sovereignty. If Quebec was sovereign, producers would not be experiencing this problem. My colleague from Drummond said that, if a European country experiences a problem, the border is not far. Quebec has taken the necessary measures to prevent a mad cow crisis. Quebec is 6,000 km from the problem, and yet it is the one suffering.
Quebec was also implicated in the sponsorship scandal. Why did Liberal pals invest so much money there? Because they were afraid that Quebec would make the right choice. They wanted to stop Quebec from making a decision. They conducted polls and greased the palm of their Liberal friends saying, “Show us how to stop Quebec from moving forward”. That is what they did with our money. They stole from us three times. They stole our reputation, our money and our country.
I think the federal government is a terrible administrator. No wonder Quebec still hopes to become a sovereign nation.